To Be A Jounin
by xgossamerstars
Summary: On hiatus until further notice. Check my profile for details.
1. Of Death and Trees

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.  
A/N: Sadly, I have not read the Naruto manga. I get all my information from the anime, but I knew that there was a gap between the part where Sasuke left, and I knew that during that space of time Naruto trained. I researched everything as much as I could in order to write this fic, so if anything is wrong, I'm really sorry. For example, I have no idea when Gaara made Kazekage, so I decided that I wouldn't specify a precise time when this fic took place--just somewhere in the two and half year gap. If this becomes a problem later on, I'll figure something out I suppose...anyway, I'm done wasting your time...continue :)**

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Inside his dimly lit apartment, Umino Iruka sat stupidly on his bed, gazing down at the mission scroll that Tsunade had issued him hours earlier. He had read it and reread it over fifty times, and he was still having a hard time believing what was being asked of him. 

He was a chuunin, for the gods' sakes! One-step-up-from-a-genin, teaching-five-year-olds-to-throw-shuriken, hadn't-been-on-a-real-mission-in-years, twenty-something- _chuunin._ Did Tsunade not understand that?

As he asked himself that question, he felt a sick sort of smirk cross his dark face—a smirk few had seen, and even less were alive to tell about. Tsunade understood, all right. Perhaps she understood too well; after all, she had Sarutobi's records.

Iruka shook his head, looking down at the mission scroll once more. An A-Class mission with Genma and Raidou, to—of all places—Sound. Their orders were to gather information, by any means necessary, on an alliance between Sound and Sand, as well as what such an alliance might mean for Leaf.

_In other words, _Iruka thought bitterly, as the lines around his eyes hardened, _Find out whether Orochimaru and Gaara are going to try an take us down like they did at the Chuunin Exams._

Iruka found it more than a little unnerving that Gaara, who was close in age to Naruto, had become Kazekage so quickly. Then again, the military cutdown that Sand had experienced in the past might have something to do with it. Gaara, however, was not one to be taken lightly, as he had proved. If Sand did join forces with sound once more, Leaf could be in serious trouble.

Sound, too, could not be underestimated. It was small, but it was home to Orochimaru, the most dangerous nin to have ever gone missing from Konohagakure; that is, until Sarutobi had rendered his hands useless. After that, the title might have to go to Uchiha Itachi, with his little brother Sasuke coming in second.

_Sasuke. _Iruka still felt a pang of loss whenever the boy's name was mentioned, although he probably could not be called something as innocent as "boy" anymore. What innocence had been left to him after his torture at the hands of Itachi and his experience as a genin ninja had most likely been drained from him by Orochimaru. If it came down to war, Sasuke might have to be killed, and Iruka might have to do it. Iruka, or Kakashi, or even Sakura—perhaps even Naruto, if he returned from his training with Jiraiya to help his village fight.

Iruka wasn't sure if any of them could do it, save maybe Kakashi.

_That's why he's a jounin, after all, _Iruka mused, that cruel smirk marring his kindly face once more. _To be a jounin is to be a death-dealer, and if there's one think Kakashi knows, it's death._

Ironically, it was also the one thing Iruka knew, and knew too well.

**xXx**

"God dammit, Asuma, we told you to stop smoking!" Kakashi snarled, shifting the position of his head so Asuma could spit out the blood he had coughed up.

"G-gomen, Kakashi..." Asuma muttered weakly, "But I don't think th-this has much to do with my cigarettes."

Kakashi didn't answer—he hoisted the injured nin higher on his back and waited for Gai to return. Five more minutes, and Kakashi was to leave without him—which meant five more minutes before he put a shapeshifting jutsu on Asuma and took off after Gai's spandex-clad ass.

Luckily, Gai dropped from a tree limb just as Kakashi was about to explain to Asuma why he was going to have to temporarily transform him into a rock.

"They're gaining on us," he said flatly, sans his dramatic flair for once. "And gaining fast. Let me take Asuma. I'm quicker."

Kakashi grunted, but let Asuma down from his back. He felt the warm, sticky circle of wet cloth on his back peel off his skin as Asuma's weight left it, then touch down once more. When he looked at the doubled-over Asuma, he knew it wasn't sweat.

"How much longer can you hold out, Asuma?" asked Gai, kneeling so that the larger ninja could climb on to his back in the least painful way.

"Just leave me," Asuma whispered, going into another coughing fit. His mouth sprinkled drops of crimson over the dirt.

"Get on his goddamn back, Asuma, and shut up," Kakashi snapped. "I'm going to take your leg weights off, Gai, and you're going to haul ass, understand? Don't worry about me—I'll be right behind you in case those Sand-nin get too close," he added.

Gai stood up, shifting Asuma to a more comfortable position on his back. "Take them off, then," he said, and Kakashi did as he was told.

"Call for me if you need me, Eternal Rival, and I shall come to your aid!" Gai cried, striking the best nice-guy pose he could with an injured ninja on his back. With that, he sprinted into the forest, leaving Kakashi in the dust.

Kakashi somehow found Gai's momentary bout of sparkling oddly comforting. He hurled Gai's leg weights into the darkness of the woods, and leapt into a tree to follow Gai via the above-ground route.

He tried to keep his mind focused only on two things: following Maito Gai, and listening for the Sand-nin. Thinking of Asuma, thinking of the stolen scrolls tucked into his vest, thinking of anything except Gai and the Sand-nin would more than likely get him killed.

And Kakashi really, really wanted to live.

The trees were passing by in a blur, with green fading into brown mixing with grey. He didn't hear the _shzing! _of the shuriken until a split second before it was firmly planted in his shoulder.

He snatched it out without missing a beat, sensing the chakra wave of his opponent and hurling the same shuriken toward it. There was a spike in the chakra flow before it winked out, and Kakashi knew he had hit his target. The other three chakra waves disappeared instantly, and as Kakashi hid his own chakra signature, he hoped Gai had remembered to do the same. Asuma's would be too weak to give anything much away.

Amidst the smell of blood, the the trees that hid him, and his own sweat, Kakashi was unable to detect the scent of the Sand-nin. The leaves around him might keeps his enemies from finding him, but it also kept him from finding his enemies.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" called a scratchy, harsh voice. Kakashi grinned beneath his mask—he had hoped they would make this mistake. He pinpointed the location of the voice.

"Where are you hiding, scarecrow? Come out and fight!"

Higher pitched, softer, and to his left; a kunoichi. Shame. Kakashi hated to kill women.

He flung a kunai in the direction of each voice—from the woman there was only a brief gurgling sound, but he heard the man cursing loudly.

Two down, two to go. Kakashi leapt silently into a different tree, just as a shuriken and kunai pierced the wood where he had just perched.

"Enough of this," said another voice—it was deep, and unsettlingly monotonous. "It ends now."

That was when the trees began to fall.

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**A/N: Shapeshifting jutsu? I have no idea if it exists or not. For the purposes of this fic, it does, mmkay? It is, after all, fanfiction...I control what happens to them...muahaha...(but I don't own them so don't sue me!)**


	2. Of Missions and Companions

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but this exceedingly messed up plot...**

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"Ready, Iruka-sensei?" asked Genma, his voice a little slurred thanks to the senbon between his teeth. There was a slight condescending tone to his words, but Iruka paid it no mind. He was only half awake. 

The sun had yet to rise. To the east, the skyline above the trees gave only the vaguest hints of daylight; to the west the stars were still twinkling.

Iruka buried the heels of his hands in his eyes and yawned. He tried in vain to remember the last time he had woken up so early. Truth be told, he wasn't sure he had **ever** woken up so early—or been so sleepy.

Of course, staying up half the night trying to make himself understand exactly **why **he was being sent on the mission in the first place might have something to do with it.

When his question received no reply, Genma smirked. "Guess not. I'm not either, really. Sound's a bitch of a country."

"Really, I didn't notice," Iruka mumbled sarcastically.

The jounin cocked an eyebrow. "Not a morning person, Iruka-sensei?"

"Hardly," Iruka yawned again, shoving his hands into his pockets and assuming a posture reminiscent of Hatake Kakashi. His eyes drooped slightly and he shook his head in an effort to wake himself.

"Where's Raidou?" he asked at length, once he felt his eyes could stay open on their own.

Genma switched his senbon to the other side of his mouth, sucking thoughtfully. "Not sure. Said he'd meet us here."

To this Iruka could only nod. He could also be thankful he hadn't been sent on the mission with Hatake, because then who knew how long he and Genma would have to wait. As it was, Raidou showed up after only ten minutes, muttering something about misplaced shuriken.

"Good morning, Raidou," Iruka said politely, stifling yet another yawn.

Raidou rolled his eyes. "What's good about it? I'd sure as hell rather be asleep right now."

"You and me both," Iruka remarked.

"Might as well get started," said Genma, hoisting his pack to one shoulder. Iruka and Raidou followed suit.

The three shinobi had enough supplies to last over a week, although the trip to the border of Sound was only estimated to take three or four days. Once there, they had been instructed to do one of three things: infiltrate Orochimaru's hideout, capture one of Orochimaru's henchmen, or question any Sand-nin they happened upon. Their least dangerous option was the latter—the Sound-nin, being their enemies, would be more likely to recognize them. If this tactic should fail, the next option was capturing one of Orochimaru's men; more easily said than done, in Iruka's opinion.

_What if it's Sasuke we capture? _he mused, tilting his head skyward. Darkness was rapidly fading to light. Black became dusky violet, violet became rose, rose became pink, the colors swimming into each other so that there was no telling where one began and the other ended.

Since it could very well be one of the last sunrises Iruka would see, he took a moment to pause by the gate and watch as sunlight finally broke over Konohagakure.

**xXx**

Only an hour had passed since Iruka left the Hidden Leaf. From the direction opposite the one the chuunin and his companions had taken, the silhouette of a man appeared. Over one shoulder was a limp, lifeless body; supported on the other side was another body, feet stumbling and dragging as the shadow led it toward the gates. Their progress was slow.

Eventually, they emerged from the umbrage of the trees, and the mysterious yet unmistakable face of Hatake Kakashi was illuminated. He held Asuma over his shoulder, his knees trembling under the weight. With the other arm, he was half-leading, half-carrying a hazy-eyed Gai; a fine trickle of blood snaked out of the jounin's bowl-cut hair from somewhere near his temple. The Green Beast of Konoha was missing his vest, and the shirt beneath was soaked through with a putrid mixture of blood and sweat. He sank to his knees the minute the arm beneath his shoulders slipped away.

Slowly, gently, Kakashi set Asuma down. The unconcious man's face was drained of all color, and a faint bluish tinge had appeared on his lips and fingertips. Careful not to move the makeshift bandage around the Asuma's stomach, Kakashi went to take his pulse. He leaned over; his body swayed. With next to no chakra to help him balance, Kakashi tried to sidestep. He flung his arm out wildly, clutching at nothing, and fell hard on his hip. He cursed as he looked up, but it seemed as if the world was moving in slow motion—his vision was swimming, tiny ripples obscuring the lines of his companion's bodies.

Gai, though disoriented, gazed intently at the masked jounin before he murmured, "Eternal Rival..."

Kakashi looked at him curiously, through both eyes—his headband lay broken gods only knew where—and ran a hand through the flopping spikes of his hair, streaking silver with dark red. "What..." he paused as his eyes began to darken. The ground seemed to coming up to meet him...

"Eternal Rival...I am eternally grateful..." Gai finished in a whisper.

Kakashi, bloody, dirty, and weak, never heard him. His body jerked, convulsed, and trembled, then fell with a muffled _thump._

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**A/N: Okay, the whole Sand-siding-with-Sound thing will explain itself eventually. That is, if anyone ever gets interested in this story. Nothing exactly important happened in this chapter--this one and the first one were more of 'setting' chapters I guess. I have an exceeding difficult time sitting still long enough to create and actual decent-length chapter...blame the ADD...**


	3. Of Blood and Dreams

_Disclaimer: I own nothing but this exceedingly messed up plot._

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Iruka had forgotten the stench of blood.

That isn't to say he had forgotten the mere scent of it—he was familiar with blood. He taught five year olds to throw sharp objects at small targets on a daily basis. No, he had not forgotten the scent of it, he had forgotten the stench; the way the sharp, metallic odor of it mixed with humid Fire Country air to form an almost tangible haze; the way it pooled beneath his fallen enemies and combined with the reek of death; the way it ran in rivulets down his limbs, blended with his sweat and created a sick perfume. He had forgotten the way it nauseated him when he breathed through his nose and the way he tasted it when he breathed through his mouth.

Iruka had forgotten how terrifying hand-to-hand combat was, how it frayed his nerves to block and dodge and duck and evade and look for an opening to strike at the same time. He had nearly forgotten how to fight entirely, faced with a heavyset Sand-nin so musclebound that Iruka had a hard time fathoming how he moved so goddamn _quickly. _When the trees began falling, he remembered—and managed to occupy the ninja so Genma and Raidou could kill off the rest of the henchmen.

To put it quite simply, this ninja was massive. Iruka took in his appearance as best he could while fighting him--he was well over six feet tall and had muscles in places that Iruka didn't know one could have muscles. He wore a loose black shirt that hung open, showing his chest and stomach. His dark reddish pants were bound tight to his calves with white wrapping and his headband bore the symbol of Sand. Iruka's hopes for a missing-nin were crushed; there was no line through the metal plate. This monster of a nin must be attacking on orders, but how the hell did he know a tree-felling jutsu when he came from the Sand country?

It seemed to Iruka that his and Genma and Raidou's roles were rather reversed. He was the chuunin, after all—although in his case, the title didn't exactly mean anything.

Iruka fought and held his own until all but two of the henchmen were disposed of—then the giant Sand-nin had suddenly teleported, and that was when the shuriken/kunai war had begun.

Later the questions would come—later Genma and Raidou would stare at him, wide-eyed and unbelieving. Later they would look at him differently. Later they would no longer know him.

That is, if they were even still alive.

He could hear the hiss of kunai and shuriken cutting the air below him, and once when he peered through the leaves he saw a few senbon as well. He knew he had to try to help, even if he was weaponless. He'd never forgive himself if Genma and Raidou both died on his watch.

His hands flew in a series of seals, and six more Irukas appeared in the trees around him. The bunshins leapt downward, snatching enemy weapons out of the air and sending them flying back toward their owners. The real Iruka stayed put.

One bunshin caught some shuriken and a couple kunai, then darted back into the tree and handed them to the real Iruka. As he stuffed his pouches once more, the bunshin headed back down, only to be caught by an errant senbon. There was a cry of "Iruka-sensei, no!" from somewhere beyond him before the bunshin vanished in a puff of smoke.

_Dammit Genma, you just gave away your position,_ Iruka thought in frustration. He took a kunai in hand and dropped from the tree, intent on defending Genma until the other nin could move to a new location.

He dropped down right in front of the tree-felling ninja. Before Iruka could move, a blade was headed straight to his heart.

The next thing Iruka felt was a spray of warmth on his face. The pain he anticipated to be coming from his pierced chest was absent, however, and he opened his eyes to find Genma fighting hand-to-hand with his attacker and Raidou ripping the bloody knife from his palm.

Two of Iruka's remaining bunshin dove on the Sand-nin, but were promptly reduced to smoke when he hurled them to the ground, somehow managing not to miss a beat in his battle with Genma.

"Three to one, eh Iruka-sensei?" Raidou grinned, though it looked to Iruka like more of a grimace. The puncture wound in his hand was pouring blood.

"I like those odds," Iruka replied, and they fell in with Genma.

**xXx**

Hatake Kakashi despised weakness. He despised it in others and he despised it in himself, though he knew at the moment he had no choice. He was so weak that opening his eye was a great accomplishment, and keeping it open with the bright lights of his hospital room glaring down was near miraculous. His Sharingan had been bandaged over until he could obtain a new headband, but he wasn't sure if that was even necessary. He felt as if he had drained it to the point that it would never work again.

Yet even as he lay there, there was no denying that no longer felt as if he were more dead than alive. The crusted blood had been washed from his hair and his physical wounds had been healed, bandaged, or stitched. The only thing keeping him from a full recovery were his chakra levels—they were still barely registering, but that wasn't surprising. He had no idea how long he had lain on the edge of Konoha after he passed out. He knew that he had regained consciousness at some point when Tsunade was in his room, but his hearing had been unreliable. The sounds were slurred and distant, as if they were coming through a thick wall. Tsunade had mentioned Gai and the word 'trees'. He must have passed out again, because after that, he remembered nothing but fuzzy blackness.

Kakashi wondered if he had enough energy to speak. He wanted desperately to know about Gai and Asuma, and needed to talk to Tsunade as soon as possible--before she sent anyone to Sound. If she had searched his vest, she would have found the scrolls by now—the scrolls that were messages from Orochimaru to Gaara, and Gaara to Orochimaru, but didn't tell the whole story. She had to know the whole story—she had to know what was really happening before she sent any ninja to Sound, because whoever she sent would never come back.

Kakashi tried to open his mouth, to form the words to call someone into his room, someone that would bring Tsunade to him. What came out of his mouth was not a word—it was a meaningless extension of sound, a wavering moan that sapped his energy and caused him to fall back into that warm black fuzziness he knew so well.

As he slept—if his current state of unconsciousness could be called sleep—he dreamed, his mind conjuring up gruesome and fanciful images; some past, some present, and some that could even be from his future. In his dreams Kakashi was reliving Obito's death, but Obito was under a tree, not a rock—and when he looked down again he didn't see Uchiha Obito, he saw Umino Iruka, and then their roles reversed and Kakashi was dying, Kakashi was suffering, and Iruka was looking down at him with tears in his eyes.

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_A/N: I tried to make this one longer. I swear I did. I don't think it worked . _


	4. Of Love and Loss

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, which isn't saying much.**

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"Genma! Raidou! You can't fall back, you have to keep up with me, understand?" Iruka was shouting, no longer concerned with giving away his position. He had to give Genma and Raidou something to follow, and since the dust and leaves and debris from all the falling trees limited his sight distance to about three feet, his voice was the only thing he could give them. The trees were crashing like dominoes, one taking out another as they collapsed. Iruka was leaping for his life, jumping from one fallen tree to the next and occasionally riding a few to the ground in order to avoid being crushed. Every now and then he would shout to Genma and Raidou to make sure they were all right, and he breathed a sigh of relief each time they answered. This time, however, there was no reply, and Iruka felt cold fingers of panic creep up his spine. Backflipping off a fallen tree to avoid being sandwiched by the one coming at him, he landed on the ground and dodged a few limbs before he could pause long enough to call out again. Since all three shinobi had masked their chakra, he had no idea whether his companions were alive or dead.

"Genma!" he screamed, in an effort to be heard over the thunder of falling trees. "Raidou! Answer me!"

There was a long pause in which Iruka heard nothing but crashing; then even that stopped. All was silent; the dust settled, the leaves fell, the debris in the air sank to the ground and Iruka was left in silent mayhem.

So many of the beautiful trees surrounding Konohagakure had been uprooted, cast to the ground like twigs. The holes left were gaping red wounds, oozing dirt blood. The grassy forest floor had been destroyed for at least a quarter mile radius, and Iruka had to squint to see any trees left standing. Slowly, he began to pick his way through the rubble, leaping tree trunks as gracefully as any cat. He had exhausted his weapons long ago, so he put his senses on high alert, attuning his ears to any crack of twig or crunch of leaf. It was risky to call for his friends in such quiet, so he held his tongue, though with every step he took the chill panic was threatening to take over his common sense. Iruka did not want to panic, because anger always invariably followed and it seemed as if there would be no one around to vent his anger on.

_Pity, _he thought, _It's been so long since I've let myself go..._

It was at that moment that a ninja sprang suddenly out of the destruction, intending no doubt to pounce upon Iruka and kill him with the senbon in his—

_Wait...senbon?_

"Genma, no!" Iruka cried, as he deftly maneuvered over the network of branches and out of harm's way.

"Iruka-sensei!" Genma's eyes widened in surprise and he returned the senbon to his lips, beginning to shake. "G-gomen, Iruka-sensei, I didn't know it was you."

"Don't apologize," Iruka waved his hand. "You did the right thing. Where's Raidou?"

The instant the words were out of his mouth Iruka regretted speaking. Genma looked off to the side and said nothing. At length, he raised his left hand; a dog tag was looped twice around his wrist, and Iruka had a feeling that it wasn't Genma's.

"How?"

Genma continued to stare off to the side, as if he hadn't heard Iruka's question at all. He was still shaking and after a few minutes the shaking grew worse. Iruka watched, at a loss, as Genma's teeth sank into his lower lip, sank until they drew blood, and then the trembling shinobi sat down on a tree trunk and began to cry.

Iruka had spent the majority of his life comforting—the children at the Academy, Naruto from childhood up until he left Konoha, worried parents, anxious Tsunade and on occasion female friends whose hearts had been broken by some callous ninja. He had wiped away the tears of countless people, but never a jounin-level shinobi, and for once in his life Iruka did not know how to help.

"A tree," Genma finally managed to splutter. "A g-god d-damned _tree. _He couldn't move, 'Ruka-sensei, h-he couldn't _move. _It p-pinned his legs and when I tr-tried to help he gave me these fucking d-dog tags then told m-me...h-he told m-me he loved me. Then he s-said, 'Move your ass!' and I r-ran and another g-goddamn tree...I don't even kn-know _which _tree now..."

He began to cry again, huge wracking sobs that threatened to tear Iruka's heart from his chest. Genma and Raidou had never publicly declared what they were to one another but anyone with a blind eye and half sense could see it; the fact that they were both men made no difference. A ninja's life was too short to discriminate about such.

"Genma..." Iruka said gently, "I'm so sorry..."

"Let's go back, Iruka-sensei," Genma mumbled, staring into the distance. "We'll never make it to Sound now..."

"No," Iruka agreed, as he put a reassuring hand on Genma's back, "I don't suppose we will."

**xXx**

When Kakashi opened his eyes again, he found that he did not have to struggle to pull his eyelids into the upright position. The lights of his hospital room no longer sent searing shots of pain into his skull, and he could now push himself into a sitting position. Heartened by his improvement, Kakashi attempted to stand—his knees promptly buckled and he sat down hard on the side of his bed.

_Dammit, _he thought, eye narrowing, _They'll never let me out of this hellhole if I can't walk._

Grudgingly, he pulled his legs back into bed; very pale, very muscular legs that scarcely saw the light of day except when Kakashi was forced to wear the ridiculous hospital gowns. Upon actually seeing his bare legs, Kakashi's hand flew to his face. He was pleased to feel the light, silky cloth of his mask beneath his fingers. His doctors had allowed him **that** shred of dignity, at least.

"You're awake."

Kakashi looked up; Tsunade was framed in the doorway, arms crossed over her ample bosom as if she'd been waiting there the entire time Kakashi had been sleeping. All the urgency that had flooded him before he lost consciousness came pouring back, and he opened his mouth to ask her his one burning question:

"What about Gai and Asuma?"

Tsunade, prepared for just such a question, answered quickly. "Gai has already made a full recovery. His worst injury was minor head trauma, but you know Gai—that skull of his is pretty thick. Asuma, on the other hand..." she trailed off, averting her eyes from Kakashi's singular gaze.

"Is he dead?" Kakashi asked, somehow managing to keep the emotion from his voice.

Tsunade shook her head. "He's in critical condition."

Kakashi let out a barely audible sigh of relief.

"Hatake, explain," she finally looked at him, "Explain how three jounin-level ninja were so easily and so badly beaten."

The visible portion of Kakashi's face darkened, and his eye narrowed. "Easily? I'm insulted," he snapped. "Gai and I were holding our own against four Sand-nin **and** defending Asuma after he wounded himself when he was trapped in a genjutsu. That was their first attack; their chakra was so well masked that none of us saw it coming until Asuma stabbed himself with one of his chakra-enhanced knives."

"So what happened? What turned the tide against you?"

It could not have been more obvious that Hatake Kakashi did not want to have this conversation, but his chakra was still too weak to teleport him away and Tsunade was the Hokage, after all. Haltingly, Kakashi began the tale.

"Like I said...we were taken by surprise. Asuma was out of commission almost immediately after I dispelled the genjutsu. Gai and I stood over him and defended him and turned back four Sand-nin: two shinobi and two kunoichi. The two kunoichi were dressed alike, I remember, in red leggings and black skirts with a short red hakama top. The two of them were easily jounin-level and neither of us managed to deliver a crippling blow. The shinobi were less adept and we managed to get our kunai into them a few times, but before either Gai or I could find an opening to perform a jutsu, all four suddenly stopped fighting and began to retreat."

"Why?" Tsunade interrupted.

Kakashi waved his hand impatiently, "I'm getting there. Asuma was looking worse by the minute, so Gai bandaged him up as well as he could and I took him on my back. We started back for Konoha then, but Gai sensed the four ninja on our trail and went to check how closely and how quickly we were being followed. He told me that if he didn't return in five minutes to leave and get Asuma back here. Right before I went to look for him—"

"Hatake," Tsunade sighed in quiet frustration, but the look in Kakashi's eye silenced her.

"He showed up and said they were gaining fast and that he should take Asuma. After I took off his leg weights, he started running. I brought up the rear to protect them. A shuriken caught me in the shoulder, but I sensed the chakra-wave and threw it back. I killed the ninja, whoever it was. Of course the other chakra waves disappeared then. Then the started calling to me--trying to taunt me out of hiding, I guess. I pinpointed their voices and killed one, wounded another. And then...then the tree fell."

"...the tree fell?" Tsunade repeated stupidly.

He nodded. "The tree fell. I was using it for cover and it just started falling, so I jumped to another—and it fell too. Every tree I went to began to fall until all I heard was crashing and all I saw was debris. I managed to find the nin who performed the jutsu, thanks to the Sharingan, but I had missed the hand seals he made and couldn't copy it. He was huge, Tsunade, I've never seen a ninja that massive!"

The amazement in Kakashi's voice was enough to unnerve Tsunade, who knew that the Copy Nin was not easily impressed.

"He moved like a cat and the trees kept crashing—it seemed as if all he had to do was look at them..." he murmured, trailing off in disbelief.

"Get on with it, Kakashi."

"He was cutting a path straight for the direction that Asuma and Gai had taken, so I tried to distract him with taijutsu. He'd use the fallen trees as a block and keep cutting his path. I used the Sharingan to find where the trees would fall, so I kept out of the way, but my chakra was going fast. I wanted to use the Chidori, but I didn't know where Gai and Asuma were and I didn't want them to be caught in it. I found them both by following the line of crashing trees he was creating. Asuma was unconscious on the ground and a limb had caught Gai on the side of his head, so he wasn't much use. Once I found the two of them, I blew the whole line of fallen trees to nothing with the Chidori. I thought I'd killed him...but just beyond the radius of the Chidori hole, a single tree fell. He escaped. I didn't have the chakra to go after him, so I brought Gai and Asuma back. I don't remember anything after I laid Asuma on the ground," he finished flatly, turning his head--a movement designed to end the discussion.

"They were all Sand-nin? You're sure?" Tsunade asked. Kakashi only nodded.

Slowly, Tsunade nodded as well, massaging her temples with her thumb and forefinger. "I don't understand how Gaara could betray us like this," she whispered.

Kakashi's head snapped around as he remembered what he had to tell Tsunade. "He isn't betraying us on purpose, Tsunade-sama," he said darkly. "Orochimaru has his brother."

* * *

**I feel like I should say DUNDUNDUNNNNN!**

**But I won't.**

**Is it just me or am I insanely unconnected with Iruka and Kakashi? I know Iruka's sort of OOC, but that's intentional. Blah.This was a BLAH chapter and it's all BLAH...blah.**

**KakaIruness coming asap. (Or IruKaka...or both?) I promise, darlings. I owe you that much, I suppose.**

**heart::gossamerstars**


	5. Of Doubt and Resolve

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto! I do, however, own this plot :)**

**A/N: Yep, I'm back. Don't get excited...this chapter is absolutely sucktastic. It's basically recap...but hey, at least I'm back! I'm going to try to update this again as soon as I can. Again, I apologize for the redundancy of this chapter. Please don't kill me!**

Tsunade stared at him for what seemed like hours. Her blank face showed no signs of registering what Kakashi had just told her, and after a few more moments, she simply closed her gaping mouth and nodded.

"How did you find this out? And how...how on earth did you retrieve the scrolls? I thought you never even made it to Sand?" said Tsunade.

"We didn't. Remember the two shinobi I mentioned? They were probably only chuunin, and the scrolls were sticking carelessly from their pockets. I snatched them in the fight before they retreated and read them while waiting for Gai to return." replied Kakashi, lying his head back against the pillow.

"That still doesn't answer how you found out about Gaara's brother, Hatake," Tsunade reminded him.

Kakashi heaved a sigh; he really was getting tired of Tsunade's prying. Hokage or not, he was still injured and still exhausted. Did he not deserve a moment or two of peace?

"Tsunade-sama, have you even read the scrolls?"

There was an awkward silence, in which the Hokage turned a slight shade of red. "I—well, between three injured jounin—you see, I—oh, no, I haven't," she finished helplessly.

Kakashi gave her an odd look, as if to say, _Some Hokage you are._

"I did not have the time, Kakashi," sighed Tsunade. "I sent three nin to Sound two days ago to attempt to uncover their motives, and now that this has happened I am debating on whether or not I should send someone after them. After all, if that big ninja is still in the forest—"

Kakashi's one eye widened and he sat bolt upright in bed, though the sudden movement made his head swim. "You _what_?" he exclaimed, as if Tsunade should have known better.

"Hatake, I had no idea you three would meet with such difficulty when I sent them out," she snapped, "My conscience has been berating me enough over this, I don't need your smart mouth added to it."

"Gomen, Tsunade-sama," he muttered unconvincingly. "Depending on who you sent, they might be able to hold their own, as Gai, Asuma and I were."

"I sent Genma and Raidou, of course," she replied hesitantly.

Her pause wasn't lost on Kakashi, who narrowed his eye and asked, "Who went with them?"

Tsunade looked away. "Umino Iruka," she answered.

"He's a chuunin!" Kakashi exploded, throwing the blanket from his bare legs and turning to stand. "He teaches pre-genin, Tsunade-sama! You're sending the man to his death!"

It was Tsunade's turn to narrow her eyes. "There is a reason that I am Hokage and you are not, Hatake. I know Umino. He can hold his own better than Genma and Raidou put together."

Kakashi burst into laughter. From what little experience he had had with Umino Iruka, the man was too emotional, too kind, and too warmhearted to ever amount to much more than a mediocre ninja. Granted, the man had had the balls to stand up to a jounin at the Chuunin Exams, but that was the only strength Kakashi had seen in him.

"You've sent him to his death, then," Kakashi replied darkly. "Umino Iruka would not have lasted one minute against that mountain of a ninja."

With that, he turned his head from the Hokage, and refused to speak.

**xXx**

Meanwhile, the same Umino Iruka that Kakashi had just spoken so terribly of crossed through the gate of Konohagakure, with the slumped, melancholy form of Genma trailing after him.

"Come, Genma...we must go to Tsunade. No, no, don't worry," Iruka put an arm around him, "I'll give the mission report. You, however, need some minor healing, I think."

Genma only nodded quietly, relieved beyond words that he didn't have to recount the experience for his Hokage. Like a blind person, he followed Iruka's lead, clutching Raidou's dog tags to his chest.

They stumbled upon Tsunade sitting outside a hospital room, looking distinctly disgruntled. Iruka cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Tsunade-sama?" he said, "I am afraid that we failed in our mission."

The Hokage looked up, and broke into a crooked little smile. She looked almost smug, although Iruka did not know why. He bowed to her and offered his apologies.

"Iruka-sensei, I am grateful for your failure. Not two hours after the three of you set out, Hatake Kakashi, Sarutobi Asuma and Maito Gai returned from theirs. The three of them were unconscious and Asuma...Asuma might not recover. Kakashi is bedridden. I'm afraid only Gai is up and around, and even he is more subdued than usual." She paused for a moment, and peered around Iruka's body to Genma.

"Where...where is Raidou?" she asked.

Genma let out a strangled, choking sound that he quickly tried to disguise as a cough. Iruka shifted uncomfortably on his feet, averting his eyes from Tsunade's face.

"Raidou...Raidou did not make it. He died in the service of Konohagakure." Iruka replied. As he spoke, Genma held out the dog tags to Tsunade, digging his teeth into the still-bleeding cuts on his lower lip.

"I see," Tsunade said quietly, taking the dog tags from Genma's trembling fingers. "Genma, Sakura is down the hall. She will be able to mend your injuries. Iruka," she said, as Genma left them, "I will need a full mission report."

"I thought as much, Tsunade-sama," Iruka sighed. "We were barely a day out of Konoha before we stumbled upon a kunoichi and a shinobi of the Sand. They attacked us—which, I suppose, answers the question as to whether or not Sand and Sound are siding together—Genma and Raidou took to them, being the jounin, of course," the sick smirk crossed his face, and Tsunade shrank back for a moment. He looked...he looked so cruel when he smiled like that, so unlike the Iruka most people knew.

"I, of course, hung back, until...until the other one came. He...Tsunade-sama, he was massive!" Iruka said. "He moved like a cat, yet he was the size of a mountain. I fought him. It took me so long to get back into the swing of things, but he performed a series of hand seals, and the next thing I knew a tree was headed for my skull. I had to duck and dodge the falling trees and fight at the same time. I kept it up as long as I could, until he teleported and we began fighting with shuriken and kunai. And senbon, of course," Iruka added, peering down the hall that Genma had disappeared in.

"Yours and Kakashi's stories are oddly similar," Tsunade mumbled thoughtfully. She was not surprised. "Continue. How did Raidou die?"

"The three of us had to attempt to take on the big ninja," Iruka continued. "It...it was absolutely futile. There were so many trees falling that we were blind from the debris and we lost each other. I called to them, to make sure they were still alive, and they answered me and followed my voice. Finally...there came I time that I called to them and no one answered. Shortly after that the trees stopped falling and the dust cleared; there was no sign of the big Sand-nin, and I couldn't go after him alone. I looked for Genma and Raidou. I...I only found Genma. He...Raidou..."

All trace of the smile that had so marred Iruka's kind looks was gone, replaced by a look of regret. A single tear made it's way down his dark, scarred nose, and he took a deep breath.

"Raidou's legs got trapped under a tree. When Genma moved to help him, he simply gave Genma his dog tags and told him to run. Genma did as he was told, and another tree fell on the upper half of Raidou's body. That was when we turned to come back to Konoha."

Tsunade sat in silence for awhile, studying the scratched silver plates of Raidou's dog tags. It was the first death of a ninja that Konoha had experienced in a long time, and the feeling was new to her.

"His name will go on the Memorial Stone," she said. "Iruka-sensei, I am proud of you. I am not surprised, but I am proud. Sarutobi was right about you."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," Iruka replied, inclining his head in a bow.

"Rest, Iruka-sensei," she admonished. "Rest well. When he is healed, I must meet with you and Hatake Kakashi. Something must be done about Sound and Sand."

**A/N: I told you it sucked :( I promise that I will actually put Kakashi and Iruka together in this next chapter. No one murder me, please...**


	6. Of Humans and Ninja

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.  
A/N: OH MY GOD AN UPDATE. Except not really. I rewrote the last chapter after I got some extremely constructive criticism, but said criticism has helped me get back my desire to actually write this story. Look for updates within the next two weeks!**

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The next time Kakashi opened his eyes, he was determined not to remain in the hospital another night. He had never done well with being cared for; in his opinion, he wasn't worth it, nor did he deserve it. All his life, he had failed in caring for others--his teammates Rin and Obito, his genin team member Sasuke, even his own sensei Yondaime. Why should anyone care for him, when he was such a failure at caring for others?

Slowly, the jounin swung his bare legs around until they dangled from his bedside. He tested his weight on them as delicately as possible, until he was certain that they would not buckle beneath him. Falling, even if no one was around to note it, was a blow to his pride. He needed to be in top shape at all times--after all,all his main purpose in life was to fight. He had been bred for it since he was a child. Genius or not, Kakashi was still mortal, and his life revolved around one thing: Kill or be killed.

As he took a few steps around his small, square hospital room, he paused for a moment, stopping to ponder the validity of this statement. Not since Obitio, Yondaime, and Rin died had he felt truly alive; he had attempted to quell his sorrow by shedding the blood of as many enemies as he could get his kunai into, thinking that perhaps if he avenged his lost companion, that feeling would come back--any feeling at all. Anything that would tell him that he was still a human being, still capable of emotion.

He had thought, perhaps, that actually having a team again might have helped him. It had started to, actually. With someone else to care for, someone else to look out for, Kakashi had slowly begun to come back to himself. He had even started to think that perhaps, if he did well with this team, if he was a good sensei and a good leader, that he might even be able to forgive himself.

Then Sasuke had abandoned them and nearly killed Naruto, and the team had broken apart. Kakashi had sunk back lower than he had been before Team Seven.

He had lived his life since then with the resolve that since he was apparently unable to protect anyone else, he had only one thing to live for, one purpose in life: Fighting.

At first, he confined it to his missions. He would fight with a fierceness and brutality that would have awed even Orochimaru, sparing no one that crossed his path. His missions soon accorded him fame among the neighboring countries, until he was known by many names and feared under them all. Children shrank from him, civilains gaped at him with awe, and other ninja refused to meet his half-gaze. Their fear infuriated him, frustrated him...and perhaps, on some subconcious level, it hurt him. Finally, whether out of spite or unknowingly, he had become what everyone already thought him to be.

He began to fight with anyone who came into contact with him, taunting them into arguments, laughing at their discomfort. He took great pleasure in putting younger ninja on the spot. There were times when he even got the better of his contemporaries. The ninja of Konoha began to avoid him at all costs, this shadow of a ninja, who covered the eye that saw the past and looked at the world through a sheath of ice. Shunned, Kakashi had drifted into a solitary existence, becoming chronically late as a result--no one cared for him except as a ninja, and in return he cared for no one. He would be late if he wished, he would read his smutty novels all he wanted, because when he died, they would mourn the loss of a ninja, not a human.

Kakashi shook his head vigorously, trying to clear his head from these thoughts. It was his one weakness in life, these words that spun through his brain at the most inopportune times, reminding him constantly of his shortcomings as a human being. His nervous pacing had brought him face to face with a full-length mirror, positioned on the back of the closet door.

"I can't be human," he growled to himself, as if it were the most undesirable thing in the world to be. He snatched off the hospital gown and cast it to the floor and muttered darlkly, "I'm a ninja. I can't afford to be human..."

His one good eye glared at his naked reflection in the mirror for a moment, as if to taunt him in his current vulnerable state. The fingers of his right hand twitched slightly, anger burning in his veins--anger at what, he could not say--and he drove his fist into the reflective glass.

He had a moment to watch himself split into a thousand pieces before the shards flew like rain around him.

**xXx**

As Kakashi's inner battle raged, so did Iruka's.

He lie on his bed, attempting to do as his Hokage had ordered and get some rest. Rest, however, required sleep, and Iruka was getting very little of that.

He tossed one way, turned another, closed his eyes and opened them again; for all Tsunade's admonishments, Iruka knew he would get no sleep tonight. Every time he closed his dark eyes, he would see Genma's pained face, Genma clutching Raidou's dog tags, Genman crying brokenly into his hands. His heart ached for his friend, as he imagined what those last few moments must have been like for them; the last brush of their hands as Raidou handed off the dog tags; the last good look they would ever have of one another; the last, and perhaps first time Genma would ever hear Raidou say those feared words: _I love you._

How frightening those words were to a ninja, both to say and to hear. It seemed that among the militant inhabitants of Konoha, those three small words might as well be a death sentence: Those who uttered them were dooming their loved one to death, for a ninja's life was notoriously short. Those who heard were plagued with the guilt of what would become of their precious person in the inevitable case of their death. It was a painful thing to say, painful and difficult. Genma perhaps would have been better off if Raidou had never said the words.

The memory of Raidou's death was something that would never leave Genma. Iruka knew this. Yet he couldn't help but wonder...whose loved one had the two men killed that night?

Jounin could kill with the slightest twitch of a kunai. They could sacrifice a comrade for the good of the mission. They could erase the faces of their targets, make themselves believe that they were not human beings, that they did not have wives, husbands, families, loved ones. Jounin were death dealers of the darkest sort.

Once, Iruka had been able to do those things, too. The fact that he had found himself still capable of it, even desiring it, was enough to deny him the comfort of sleep for the rest of the night.

Iruka realized that the ninja that had ambushed them in the forest had to die, must die. The well-being of Konoha stood above all else--that wast the only reason Iruka was able to do what he did and live with himself afterward. These killings were justified in Iruka's mind, even if he found himself thinking of the people they would never come back to...but they led his train of thought to other people he had killed. People he had assassinated...and assassinations were one thing Iruka couldn't justify.

How many children's mothers had he slaughtered? How many fathers? How many people's lives had he ruined, just by completing his missions, just by being what he had been brought up to be--a ninja? It was the idea that he could cause pain as deep and terrifying as Genma's that he had chosen to resign from active duty, despite the fact that he had been (and perhaps still was) one of the most talented, most dangerous nin Konoha had ever possessed.

Iruka cared too much, and that was all there was to it. He could kill as long as someone cast the first stone, but...

"This is why I teach the little ones," Iruka mumbled in disgust, as he wiped the tears off his scarred cheek.

Iruka was sometimes sickened by his own compassion, by his own shortcomings as a ninja.


	7. Of Missions and Companions II

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**A/N**: Bwahahaha! Look what I have! Too bad it's not a great chapter, but I'm back in the swing of it now Next chapter should be up relatively soon!

* * *

Kakashi woke at the last hour of darkness. His hand ached and stung where the tiny shards of glass were still imbedded in his knuckles, and he flinched as he performed the hand seals to teleport him to his own apartment.

Not that it was much of an apartment, of course. Kakashi appeared in front of a saggy, patched couch that happened to be the only bit of furniture in his living room, aside from a bookshelf of Icha Icha novels. Instead of taking the twenty steps to his own bedroom, Kakashi stretched himself out on the ancient sofa, pulling a ragged afghan over his naked body and falling asleep once more.

It was a natural process for Kakashi, who tended to return from his missions in a state of utter exhaustion. He would strip down in his living room, leaving his clothes where they fell, and fall into a light coma for a few hours before waking up to do it all again. It was simply something he did, a habit formed out of his constant state of aloneness. In all honesty, he couldn't remember the last time he had actually slept in the bed.

Unfortunately, he had barely slept twenty minutes when he felt a cold, wet sensation on his nose. Instantly he was on his feet, clutching a kunai hidden in the depths of the old couch. He came within a hair's breadth of slicing off the tip of his own nose before he crossed his eyes and found himself looking into the twitchy feelers of one of Tsunade's summons.

"Ugh," Kakashi mumbled, plucking the little slug off his face with the thumb and forefinger of his left hand. He may be a jounin level ninja, but creepy, crawly, slimy things still grossed him out a little. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The slug twitched its feelers and said nothing.

"I don't know why I asked, I know what you're doing here...you nasty little bugger...ugh, go back to your mistress," Kakashi told it. It wiggled its feelers once more, almost in a chastising manner, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi went to the bathroom to wash his hands and find a clean pair of boxers, wondering what it was that Tsunade could want with him at this hour of the morning. _I'm not going back to the fucking hospital, whatever she says, _Kakashi resolved, as he stepped into a pair of reddish colored shorts, _She'll get over it._

He hadn't yet obtained a new hitae-ate, but it didn't particularly matter. His Sharingan eye was still tightly bandaged over, and he found himself a little wary to remove the dressing. He let his thick hair flop over the patch instead as he tugged a new mask into place. He finished getting dressed and tried to perform the hand seals again, but his hand had swollen and stiffened up in the nearly half hour since he'd last performed the jutsu. Kakashi decided to take the lazy way out and walk.

He stepped out of his apartment, taking care to lock the door behind him. He may not have much, but his collection of Icha Icha novels were reason enough for him to lock his door. He tucked the key into a deep pocket of his vest and set off down the hall. His one eye was still heavy with sleep, and he picked another lazy means of transportation: he stepped into the rickety old elevator and leaned against the wall as it shuddered downward, relishing the few moments he was allowed to close his sleepy eye.

By the time he set off down the path that would take him to the Hokage's tower, dawn was only just beginning to think about breaking. It was still dark, but the darkness was less heavy. A few early birds chirped sporadically, as if they weren't particularly awake yet, either.

Kakashi's mind remained relatively blank as he walked along, hands tucked tightly in his pockets, slouching down and away from the outside world. It had taken him many years to master the art of not thinking about anything at all, but what else had he had to do in the years between the death of his first team, and the training of his second?

Since Sasuke left, Kakashi was having to re-learn his ability to think of nothing. His novels distracted him a little, as they always had, but Sasuke's name drifted across his mind more than any other. Naruto came and went some, Sakura's less since she was still in town, but Kakashi considered Sasuke to be his most recent, most telling failure…and oh, it was hard not to dwell on failures.

Kakashi managed to keep his mind blank up until the moment he reached the double doors at the base of the Hokage's tower. There, just laying his hand on the doorknob, was the chuunin teacher Umino Iruka.

_What the fuck?! He's alive? _Kakashi's mind exploded in disbelief, and he rubbed his eye with the heel of his left, good hand to make sure he was seeing what he thought he saw.

Iruka had just pulled the door open when he looked up to see Kakashi, standing in the middle of the path and staring at him.

"See something you like, Hatake-san?" Iruka asked. His tone was such that Kakashi hadn't the slightest idea if the Academy teacher was being serious or sarcastic.

Kakashi went with his usual noncommittal, "Hn," and walked the rest of the way to the door, which Iruka held open for him.

"Thanks," Kakashi mumbled, and started for the steps that would lead to Tsunade's office.

To his utter bewilderment, Iruka followed.

"Did you find a slug on your face a few minutes ago, too?" Iruka asked, in what Kakashi assumed was an attempt to generate small talk.

"Yeah," Kakashi replied, and left it at that, despite his curiosity to ask how the hell Iruka had come back from the mission to Sound alive. They started in on the second flight of steps.

"Wonder what she wants with us," Iruka mumbled. He seemed to be talking to himself, so Kakashi made no reply. They ascended the last flight of steps in silence.

Iruka bowed to the guards—Kakashi inclined his body slightly—before entering the Hokage's office.

Tsunade sat at her large desk, looking as if she hadn't slept in days. Her clothes were disheveled, her hair rumpled and unkempt, and there were blue shadows under her heavy-lidded eyes.

"Hatake, Umino, thank you for coming at such an early hour—even though one of you shouldn't even be out of the hospital yet," she added, giving Kakashi a pointed look.

"Of course, Tsunade-sama," Iruka bowed once more.

Once again, Kakashi only inclined his upper body. He shrugged at Tsunade's statement.

"Sit down, please," Tsunade gestured absently to the two chairs in front of her desk.

Kakashi and Iruka obeyed, taking their seats beside one another and waiting patiently for Tsunade to begin her explanation.

"Hatake, Umino, I would like you two to take a good look at one another," Tsunade sighed heavily. "For you two, and you two only, will make up the team that I will send to the Sand country."

Kakashi's eye narrowed and shifted to Iruka, who was gazing patiently back at him.

"Do either of you have any objection?"

"I do what is best for Konoha, Hokage-sama," Iruka shrugged. "I will work with anyone."

"Hn," Kakashi grunted. "You may as well send me alone."

Tsunade smiled mysteriously, but Iruka's expression did not change in the slightest. In fact, it seemed as if he hadn't even heard Kakashi's words.

"Hatake, was it not you who said that Umino would not return from the mission to sound alive?" the Hokage asked.

"I said it," Kakashi acknowledged, "Apparently I must eat my words. Raidou and Genma must have decided it was a lost cause."

Kakashi saw Iruka flinch slightly as he spoke. Tsunade did the same, and took a deep breath to give Kakashi the news.

"Raidou did not return from the mission, Hatake."

Kakashi felt his throat clench just a little, felt the water in his good eye rise ever so slightly. Genma and Raidou had been the closest things to friends that Kakashi had had around Konoha.

"How…" was all Kakashi managed to say.

"This is where I will let Umino take over," Tsunade nodded her head in the chuunin's direction, and Kakashi turned his gaze there as well.

Iruka was hunched over a little, with his hands over his eyes. Slowly, he regained his composure, and his voice took on the emotionless tone of a shinobi reporting the details of a mission.

"Genma, Raidou and I set out just before sunrise yesterday morning. We didn't make it very far before we were ambushed by two kunoichi, easily jounin-level. Genma and Raidou took to them, but there was a third shinobi lurking about, also jounin level. Higher, if it were possible. He was huge. I've never seen a man so tall. I fought him using taijutsu for a long time, until he teleported and we began battling with shuriken, kunai and senbon. I used bunshin to collect more weapons for myself when mine were gone, but Genma accidentally hit one of them. Thinking it was really me, he called out. I came down to cover him and the huge ninja aimed a kunai at my chest. Raidou blocked it with his hand, and then all three of us were fighting him using taijutsu. Eventually, he got the chance to perform his hand seals, and the trees began to fall. After that it was all I could do to keep up with Raidou and Genma. Unfortunately, Raidou was trapped under a falling tree. We couldn't save him. We returned to Konoha afterward."

Iruka hung his head, covering his face with his hands once more. Kakashi only stared with his one eye wide in shock.

"That, I believe, is explanation enough, Hatake," Tsunade remarked in clipped tones. "Umino has proved himself to be a very capable ninja. I know things you don't, Hatake," she snapped, as Kakashi opened his mouth to protest. "The two of you will begin your training with one another today. I will be there to supervise. In a week, maybe a few days more, you will set out to Sand together in order to gain an audience with Gaara. The purpose of this audience is to determine if Kankuro is, in fact, being held by Orochimaru. If this is so, then we must encourage Gaara to join forces with us against Orochimaru. It may, in the end, mean war…"

Tsunade's eyes drifted slowly away from the two of them as she contemplated the concept of war.

"Do you…do you want me back in ANBU, Hokage-sama?" asked Kakashi.

"Not right now," Tsunade replied, and began to distract herself with the paperwork on her desk. "Get out of here, and meet me at the training field around ten. We will train for two hours, take an hour for lunch, and then return to train for two more hours. There will be a break until six, and then you shall both return to train until eight. Understood?"

Iruka and Kakashi both nodded. Tsunade dismissed them, and the two ninja left together.

On the way down the stairs, Kakashi, for once in his life, was unable to keep his mouth shut. "What did Tsunade mean when she said she knew things I didn't, Umino-san?"

Iruka looked at him quizzically, as if trying to recall exactly what it was Tsunade had been saying. "What do you mean, Hatake-san?"

"When she was talking about you being a…er, capable ninja. She said she knew things I didn't, about you I'm assuming." Kakashi explained. His voice sounded strange to his own ears.

"Oh, that," a strange half-smile crooked Iruka's gentle features into something sharper, harsher. "Don't worry about that, Hatake-san. Before this is over…you will understand. See you at ten, then."

Iruka turned away to head in the opposite direction of Kakashi as the two of them passed through the doors of the Hokage's tower. Kakashi lifted his hand in a sort of half-hearted wave, still feeling thoroughly confused. He felt as if Tsunade and Iruka both knew something he didn't—and that wasn't a feeling that Kakashi was accustomed to.

As Iruka made his way toward his own apartment, he cursed his ill luck at having to be stuck with Hatake Kakashi as a partner. He could have cheerfully hit Tsunade with a clever array of taijutsu, he was so angry, but of course it would do no good.

_Hatake and I are the natural choice for such a mission, _Iruka thought, turning his eyes toward the newly risen sun . _Oh, Anko would consent to go of course, but with Orochimaru involved it's risky to send her. Kurenai would never leave Asuma's side, as sick as he is, and Genma's in no shape to do anything. Gai…well, according to Tsunade, Gai is suffering a little short-term memory loss as a result of that knock on his head. How unfortunate, I'd almost rather go with Gai…_

Iruka took the stairs up to his apartment two at a time. His stomach was growling with a vengeance, and he intended to cook himself a good breakfast before it was time to train with Hatake.

_After all, _Iruka grinned cheerfully, _I do owe him for all those negative things he said about me._


End file.
